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Sunday

Perspective: A Heart Device Can Save Lives, But Doctors Need To Explain The Downsides

For severe heart failure patients, an LVAD, or left ventricular-assist device, helps the heart pump blood. 7asmin via Wikimedia Commons hide caption

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7asmin via Wikimedia Commons

Opinion

Shots - Health News

Perspective: A Heart Device Can Save Lives, But Doctors Need To Explain The Downsides

WBUR

A mechanical pump can be life-saving for heart failure patients or it can cause dangerous complications. Doctors can do a better job at explaining the reasons some patients may want to opt out.

The Flight Of The Condors, And Their Audience

The Peregrine Fund recently released four California condors over high cliffs in Northern Arizona. In 1982, there were only 22 of these giant birds left in the wild. George Andrejko/Courtesy, Arizona Game and Fish Department hide caption

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George Andrejko/Courtesy, Arizona Game and Fish Department

National

The Flight Of The Condors, And Their Audience

Hundreds of condor groupies flocked to a spot on the Utah-Arizona border to witness the annual release of young condors into the wild.

The Flight Of The Condors, And Their Audience

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Saturday

WATCH: 'Extremely Rare' 2-Headed Snake Stuns Social Media, Charms Scientists

State herpetologist J.D. Kleopfer says the discovery of a two-headed copperhead snake in Northern Virginia earlier this month is an "extraordinarily rare" sighting that few of his colleagues have seen. J.D. Kleopfer/Virginia Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries hide caption

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J.D. Kleopfer/Virginia Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries

Animals

WATCH: 'Extremely Rare' 2-Headed Snake Stuns Social Media, Charms Scientists

A Virginia state herpetologist says finding the mutant copperhead in a resident's yard earlier this month is an "extraordinarily rare" occurrence. Even more stunning, he says, is that it is alive.

WATCH: 'Extremely Rare' 2-Headed Snake Stuns Social Media, Charms Scientists

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Friday

How Trauma Affects Memory: Scientists Weigh In On The Kavanaugh Hearing

Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in ahead of testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption

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Win McNamee/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

How Trauma Affects Memory: Scientists Weigh In On The Kavanaugh Hearing

Christine Blasey Ford presented her allegations against Brett Kavanaugh Thursday. He denied them. But how can either of them remember? Here's what science says about memory and trauma — and alcohol.

Drew Philp: How Can 'Radical Neighborliness' Help Struggling Communities?

Drew Philp on the TED Stage. Jasmina Tomic / TED hide caption

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Jasmina Tomic / TED

TED Radio Hour

Drew Philp: How Can 'Radical Neighborliness' Help Struggling Communities?

In 2009, Drew Philp bought an abandoned house in Detroit and worked with neighbors to fix it up. He discovered the power of 'radical neighborliness' to rebuild his struggling neighborhood.

Drew Philp: How Can 'Radical Neighborliness' Help Struggling Communities?

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Richard Berry: How Can Cities Create Opportunities For The Homeless?

Richard Berry on the TED stage. TED hide caption

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TED

TED Radio Hour

Richard Berry: How Can Cities Create Opportunities For The Homeless?

As Albuquerque's mayor, Richard Berry tried a new approach to addressing panhandling: offering work and connecting homeless with city services. He says it's a more humane option more cities can try.

Richard Berry: How Can Cities Create Opportunities For The Homeless?

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Liz Ogbu: Can We Gentrify Neighborhoods While Allowing Longtime Residents To Stay?

Liz Ogbu on the TED stage. Stacie McChesney/Stacie McChesney / TED hide caption

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Stacie McChesney/Stacie McChesney / TED

TED Radio Hour

Liz Ogbu: Can We Gentrify Neighborhoods While Allowing Longtime Residents To Stay?

Architect Liz Ogbu has seen the pain gentrification creates for displaced communities. She wonders how we can create ways for longtime residents to stay and reap the benefits of gentrification.

Liz Ogbu: Can We Gentrify Neighborhoods While Allowing Longtime Residents To Stay?

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OluTimehin Adegbeye: How Can Cities Make Space For Their Most Vulnerable Residents?

OluTimehin Adegbeye on the TED stage. Ryan Lash/Ryan Lash / TED hide caption

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Ryan Lash/Ryan Lash / TED

TED Radio Hour

OluTimehin Adegbeye: How Can Cities Make Space For Their Most Vulnerable Residents?

OluTimehin Adegbeye says that in the world's megacities, the most vulnerable get left behind — including in her city, Lagos. But it's these people, she says, that most deserve space in modern cities.

OluTimehin Adegbeye: How Can Cities Make Space For Their Most Vulnerable Residents?

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Thursday

A Drifting Weedkiller Puts Prized Trees At Risk

The edges of this sycamore leaf are turned upward into a cuplike shape, the typical sign of exposure to dicamba. Dan Charles/NPR hide caption

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Dan Charles/NPR

The Salt

A Drifting Weedkiller Puts Prized Trees At Risk

The EPA is deciding whether to let farmers keep using an herbicide called dicamba. The chemical is controversial because it can damage nearby crops. What's less well-known: It's hurting wildlife, too.

A Drifting Weedkiller Puts Prized Trees At Risk

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Apples Or Fries With That? When It Comes To Kids' Meals, Fries Are Hard To Beat

More kids are eating at fast-food chains like McDonald's, according to a new study, but parents are buying the healthier side options only about half the time. Miguel Candela/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images hide caption

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Miguel Candela/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Salt

Apples Or Fries With That? When It Comes To Kids' Meals, Fries Are Hard To Beat

Even though many fast-food chain restaurants are offering healthier sides, a new report says parents choose them only about half the time, and restaurants aren't consistent in how they offer them.

Bones Reveal The Brontosaurus Had An Older, Massive Cousin In South Africa

An artist's reconstruction of Ledumahadi mafube, which means "a giant thunderclap at dawn," foraging during the early Jurassic in South Africa. Viktor Radermacher, University of the Witwatersrand hide caption

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Viktor Radermacher, University of the Witwatersrand

Research News

Bones Reveal The Brontosaurus Had An Older, Massive Cousin In South Africa

The scientists think when this new dinosaur was alive, it was the largest creature ever to have walked the Earth. And unlike the lumbering creatures that came later, it could pop up on its hind legs.

Bones Reveal The Brontosaurus Had An Older, Massive Cousin In South Africa

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VA Adding Opioid Antidote To Defibrillator Cabinets For Quicker Overdose Response

The contents of the naloxone kit inside an AED box located in the VA West Roxbury cafeteria. Jesse Costa/WBUR hide caption

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Jesse Costa/WBUR

Shots - Health News

VA Adding Opioid Antidote To Defibrillator Cabinets For Quicker Overdose Response

WBUR

The overdose antidote naloxone could soon be available in more public places. The Veterans Administration is adding it to its automated defibrillator cabinets. Other institutions are following suit.

VA Adding Opioid Antidote To Defibrillator Cabinets For Quicker Overdose Response

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Wednesday